Amazon and Fedex

Amazon and FedEx are companies that have built their reputation on customer satisfaction and stringent standards.  All of their processes are built in a way to achieve utmost satisfaction from their customers.

This paper will attempt to identify the strengths and weaknesses (if there are any) in the processes of Amazon and FedEx.  Both companies will be introduced by a brief company profile prior to the process analysis.

Company Name:                  FedEx Corporation

Number of Employees:          280,000

Founded:                         1971

Key people:                         Frederick W. Smith (Chairman, President, and CEO)

Headquarters:                  Memphis, Tennessee, USA

History:        FedEx Express was founded in 1971 and was a parcel delivery service company that connected twenty-five cities in the USA.  At the time FedEx had fourteen Dassault Falcon 20s which were used as the delivery vehicle.  In 1976 they became profitable delivering 19,000 parcels a day.  Over the years the had rapid growth mainly due to the 1977 Airline Deregulation Act which removed restrictions on the routes operated by all-cargo airlines.  This allowed them to purchase bigger airplanes, which allowed for more cargo.  In 1978 FedEx launched COSMOS, a computer system which managed people, packages, vehicles, and weather in real time.  They further enhanced their customer service by implementing DADS which was a system used to coordinate deliveries and pickups.

Fast forward to 1994, FedEx opened an Asia and Pacific hub here in the Philippines at Subic Bay International Airport.  Recently they have just broke ground on its latest hub in Central Europe at the Cologne Bonn Airport.

Product & Service Line:        

FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery, FedEx SmartPost, FedEx Freight, FedEx Trade Networks, FedEx Supply Chain Services, FedEx Corporate services, FedEx FCIS, and FedEx Office

Company Name:                  Amazon.com  Inc.

Number of Employees:          26,100

Founded:                         USA, 1994

Key people:                         Jeffrey P. Bezos (Chairman, CEO, and President), and Tom Szkutak (CFO)

Headquarters:                  Seattle, Washington, USA

Facilities:         Amazon.com’s headquarters is located in Beacon Hill, Seattle.  It has several more offices throughout Seattle.  Amazon employs software developers across the world with offices in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, South Africa, Romania, Tokyo, China, and Arizona.

They also have warehouses and fulfillment centers across the world such as Europe, Asia, and America, which are often near the airport for easy transportation.